BUSINESS
The POPI Act....... Again
Salon International recently hosted a webinar on the POPI Act with two experts, Karl Markwald of ESP and Sam Lockhart of My Spa Consutants Registration
All businesses need to register regardless of size, from one person owner/operator to thousands of employees, all must register. https://www.justice.gov.za/ inforeg/portal.html is the web address to do this. At this time the link is switched off due to technical problems. Take a screen shot of your visit to the website as proof that you have tried to register. You can download a pdf version although the site does not say where you send the completed form. At least you can be prepared for completing the online version when it is back up and running. Please note: There are only 6 compliance officers in the country which is impossibly small to focus on enforcement - registering as
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info officer is the most important requirement. In addition, no one but these 6 can certify compliance so don’t pay for this as there is no certificate that can be obtained. If anyone requests information on your data protection practices, you may inform them of a time frame in which you will respond in eg 30 days. This will give you time to prepare a response.
An information officer
Every business needs to appoint an information officer and this should be an owner or director of the business. This is viewed very seriously and a senior person must take responsibility.
A compliance manual
You must have a compliance saloninternational.co.za
manual that shows your data protection policies. What you have in place for data storage, when and how you communicate with clients etc.
Storage of data
Your data must always be stored in a secure place. Treat it like you would money, don’t leave it lying around. Digital data must be kept in a secure location. If it is cloud based, make sure the cloud storage is encrypted. If it is on your laptop, ensure that the laptop is password protected and that the program, MS Excel or other is password protected. If you use salon software of some kind, your provider should be able to advise you on safety of data. Back-ups must also be stored securely.
